For Respiratory Techs, Therapists, Care Practitioners, Snotsuckers, and other Respiratory Terrorists
I am creating a list of RCP / RRT / CRTT bloggers. There’s nobody on the list at the moment except for me, and I barely count since I’ve not practiced in a decade. But I’m looking forward to hearing from other RT bloggers!
Hey dude,
You are not the only one that has deserted the respiratory field for the duration. I graduated in 1992, after working as an equipment tech in RT since 1989, and left the field, burnt out in 2001. At first, I enjoyed the action, and roaming the hospital (a teaching institution) and seeing the various interesting cases. But it just got so monotonous and boring after a while. And yes, you get no freaking respect from anybody, especially nurses, who inexplicably feel they are above RT’s even though our programs are the same length of time. Luckily the hospital I was working at at the time was very supportive of their therapists, and we had some great protocols to work with, not having to beg for every weaning order, or extra treatment needed asap in the middle of the night. I eventually moved onto peds, and nicu, wanting to “be the best.” But it broke my heart to lose my patients, and after being refused a place on the transport team, I left for a childrens hosptial that agreed to take me on. I had plenty of experience, coming from a teaching hospital, so I expected the same level of performance at the kids hospital. No such luck. The ventilation therapies they were applying, I considered 8-10 years outdated. We had been working with alot of nicu oscillators at the previous hosptial, and they had barely touched them at the kids place. I was shocked, as this was a nationally well known place, and couldn’t even provide proper percussion and postural drainage for their cystic kids. All this frustration, busy work schedules and work illness combined to exacerbate my depression, that had not reared it’s head until I graduated school. I was eventually diagnosed bipolar, and that made it really hard to work, being up and down. Especially since that is the nature of the biz, in critical care, and trauma, etc, my specialties. So, I left the field in 2001, and now in 2006 have recovered about 90% and am wanting to return to health care to teach. I am back at my local community college (albeit in another state) for a nursing degree. I can guarantee you though, you will not find me roaming the floors. I want to work with diabetic education, asthma education and the like. Sure hope it works out for me. any advice is welcome.
Burn out is common in respiratory therapist. I started working in resp ther in 1972, by 1980 I was getting pretty frazzeled and went to work in a small rural hospital that didn’t even have an ICU, this helped because there were very few emergency situations, few draining casses and a very quiet E.R. I was an RT for 30 years, and still have my license, but I also got tired of the lack of respect and decided to go to school to become a P.A. you know what, registered nurses still seldom show me respect. At least now I have a lot more to say about what my patients get and I’m making a much better wage.
Thanks for sharing your stories Doug and Stacie. I would like for others to share their stories as well.
You get respect if you demand it. I don’t give a rats a_ _ who respects me in the large hospital I work in. Who is the first person everyone calls when someone is coding (before anesthesia) or in resp. distress, us, the RRT. Resp. please call the trauma bay, sound familiar. If a nurse gives me a hard time I give it back but mostly just laugh at them and smirk that their job sucks alot more than mine. You couldn’t pay me enough to be a nurse. The reality is nurse’s are jealous that our job can be less involved and we can do what we have to do, chart it and walk away. I am not stuck at the bedside unless I am manually ventilating or making venilator changes or setting up Nitric Oxide or Flolan, etc… We care for patients that are usually very ill, unless of course we are setting up a routine cpap for a patient, etc… The job of an RRT in the acute care setting is what you make of it, I luckily am at a great institution and I mostly like my daily assignments, etc… Don’t get me wrong, there are days that I have run twenty plus arterial blood gases in the PICU or NICU plus all the ventilator checks/setting changes, fisher paykel heated cannula changes and I am wired for sound. Mostly though it is, “Feast or Famine” when it comes to workload. I am either very busy or sitting on my ass typing this stupid blog comment. Ok, see ya later almost time to leave.
I’m considering going to school for respiratory therapy, but i have heard many stories about low pay(unless you work for travel med agency) and no respect at all. i like the idea of helping people as i used to be a mgr at a med supply company and loved it. Is the school very difficult( i would be working at my current job for 25-30 hrs a week). my wife said its too difficult to go to med school and work at same time. what advise do you have for me and is it true that hospitals dont refer to rt’s as “professionals”? Is the pay pretty good? do most hospitals offer retention bonuses for rt’s?
Hi jason —
I think the thing to do is to visit a few hospitals and to try and talk to someone in the RT department and get an introduction to what the job entails, and that you’re interested in the profession. Ask all your questions there. I would also advise you to connect with the AARC and your state’s RT organizations.
Best of luck!
I am a Director of Respiratory at a local sub-acute unit. I have been there three years and honestly I totally get no respect from nursing or the DON hardly ever. The only time they “respect” you is if someone is circling the drain, or they need a favor. It’s grueling and unfair and yet I am blessed with a staff of 22 therapist I adore and residents whom are more like family over the years. But still- I am faced with considering a career change after ten years of being in the field I still think there’s got to be more out there than managing the “phlegmsuckers”. Any advise from anyone who left resp for something else???
I was hoping to read more positive things on the RT end of the spectrum. I guess the reality is Respiratory therapy is a thankless job, with very few good quirks. I have been in the field since 1990. At this time burn out is my name. I moved recently to a small rural hospital hoping for a respit from the hectic trauma of the larger ICU/Hospital. To my surprise this small 25 bed hospital in Minnesota is actually worse than what I was working at in Colorado. They have no clue what respiratory is about. I actually was called the oxygen lady. WOW! what a hit to my ego. Especially after working Air Life, a 25 bed ICU etc. Not only is the pay bad, but the hours are worse. If you want your back patted once in awhile I would highly recommend a large facility with some knowledge base. Better salary, and respect, (if not by others from within yourself). In the meantime I begin my search for a better position elsewhere. So much for lake Wobegone!
It’s great to see folks posting here, though I wish there were more favorable stories to tell with regards to the RT profession.
Any of you commenters want to blog for Rhonchi.com to talk about your experiences?
Joe,
I agree with you about a more positive outlook, but reality is that the health profession no matter what you are doing is still a very tough job. I think that people need to be more supportive here on this web site, but still allow them to ventilate ( no pun intended LOL). “I love my job, I love my job, I love my job” sounds all to familiar.
There are some great hospitals out there which respect, admires and shows appreciation for the RT. I have been there and I have seen it first hand. A lot of it comes within the RT dept. So here on this paticular website. It is a great job, but I think it all depends on where you work. Like Matt from a previous blog wrote, You definitely have to demand it!
@Laurie –
I completely agree — I want this to be a space to vent, positively and negatively. 
Good thoughts, Laurie. If you’d like to do some blogging here just give a holler!
I blog and I’m a student respiratory therapist.. check out my blog
rtstudentblog.com
Hey Mark — I added your blog to the sidebar!
Does any one know of a Respiratory therapy blog site that lets people who are in the market know if the ratings are good for a specific hospital/company etc.. If a therapist was going to search out the good and bad of dept. where would they go for that RTs’s experience whether they were a traveler or permanant employee? Let me know. Thanks
Laurie — that’s a great idea. Sadly, I don’t know of any such site for RTs. Not a bad idea. Anyone else interested in something like this?
Interesting blog. I’d have to agree with most that the field of Respiratory Therapy is shit. Sorry Laurie and Joe. I’am embarassed to say that I’ve been working as a Respiratory Therapist since 1979 and I have nothing good to say about it at any level. Its all “Shit”and I would not recommend working as Respiratory Therapist to anyone, including my worst enemy. I am considered a positive and well educated individual who does not curse, but the only adjectives that accurately describe Respiratory Therapy are four letter words, and the nicest four letter word I can think of is shit! What everyone has so far stated is true. The amount of bullshit in the field can only be explained in exponential terms. Its starts with the incompetent instructors who teach you, the greedy organizations that misrepresent you, the coworkers that dump on you, the employers who take advantage of you, the pay that undermines you, the hospital staff that demeans you, and the patients that piss, shit, bleed and cough on you as well as inhaling their unnecessary breathing treatments with them; and don’t forget constantly being harased to prove the skills you learned but can never use, with continual CEU’s, CPR, ALS, hospital inservices, mandatory dodo meetings, and overpriced conferences that at best induce comas. To those who read this and desire to become an RT, heed my warnings and move on to something else.
Robert — thanks for your thoughts. It sounds like you need to make a career change away from RT if it makes you so unhappy. I will say there are working situations for RTs that are much more favorable and have more respect, but your words do not shock me anymore. Sadly, health care keeps getting squeezed financially — and that sh*t runs downhill, as they say. I wish you the best.
we dont get any respect seems to be a recurring issue with rts. my answer to that is why do you need respect? honestly, do you need someone to pat you on the back to make you feel better? be grateful you have a good job, do it to the best of your ability and take the money at the end of the week with your head high. and whatever you do dont wipe any asses , thats the nurses job.
Hello Eric,
Thank you for your reply. However, your
mentality represents why the field hasn’t progressed much over the decades. You appear as a trained monkey who does what their told for the paycheck, requiring no respect. I’d bet your propably one of the lowest paid employee’s of your department. But, keep jumping through the hoops, I’m sure a raise is just around the corner. Your definition of a good job and mine are obviously different. I need to have influence on the work I do, as well as the respect of the people I work with. You can give the Q2 normal saline treatments, check the unweaned ventilators, and set up the 95 year old 17.5cm home CPAP system. The field is full of sheep like yourself who will do it for a paycheck. I won’t and that’s how I hold my head up at the end of the day.
Robert,
It’s amazing that Mark, the student, who posts a blog on his experiences through clinicals is more optimistic about his future career as an RT. than you are about a profession you’ve been in since 1979. I am twenty years old and plan to start the respiratory program at my local community college in the fall. I first came across Mark’s blog on his thoughts of becoming an RT and his experiences in the field…then I came across this blog, where people are just trashing on the profession. Since most RT jobs only require a 2 year degree why would you complain about the pay and lack of respect you feel you’re shown at the hospital? Truth is, I agree somewhat with your statement about respect from co-workers being important but I also agree that one should be thankful of having a secure job in healthcare. Anyone with a positive thing to say about RT, should post a blog and give me some reassurance in my decision. (My blog wasn’t intended to be rude but, I do still have time to change my decision and become an RN…)
Hello all, I have been a therapist for about 20 years now. I agree that all jobs have its shares of ups and downs. Yes working holidays, nights, weekends is a drain. But this is the field we choose. I also agree that there are demeaning people out there, but I am also a trained lawyer, and the same crap you hear complained about on this blog, are also in the legal field. If you are totally about money, wrong field. If you enjoy helping people, welcome.
Hey Mike,
Your right most of us choose the field we work in. Almost 30 years ago I chose this field through research and talking to a few people who worked in RT. It sounded pretty good until I actually worked in it. I’ll spare the details, but at every level of this so called profession I have been disappointed and often disgusted. You have been in it for 20 years, you should know what I’m talking about unless you are like most RT’s I’ve worked with, working drones with no interest in self improvement or professional advancement. I wish most of the people I worked with stayed at Wal-Mart and Burger-King. I beileve most organizations need people who can’t see beyond their face, so they created RT’s. I chose another field and only work prn. All my classmates I’ve heard are also out of the field. Working prn helps with the vacations and Christmas presents. Although many times I thought about mailing the NBRC my license and telling them to stick it in a dark hole. I’m very surprised you went to law school, but work as an RT. Did you know the bar exam is cheaper to take and you don’t have to retake it in five years. I could go on an on about what an embarresment this field is. Do I sound a little upset? Of course I am! It’s the result of working in the healthcare environment, thank God I’m out! I’m surprised most RT’s put up with the nonsense. As far as helping people, like you,I went into the field to do that, but I have made more difference in peoples lives outside of the healthcare setting. An example, How can anyone help the sick giving 30 treatments ,caring the ER pager, and doing EKG’s. At the end of the shift you don’t want help them, you just want to smack them silly and tell them to go home. My way of helping people is making them aware of what RT is really all about..
In reply to Robert — it sounds like you have a grudge. But it also sounds like you stayed in environments that really sucked. Your disdain for fellow RTs is pretty palpable. I’m not sure why it’s so important for you to warn people away from being RTs, I know there are RTs who would be happy to recommend their own experience to other people. Your experience is not the sum total of what it means to be an RT. To claim otherwise is simply lying.
To people investigating RTs - talk to RTs in a number of different settings, look at the responsibilities they have, listen for how they are regarded by other medical staff, see how seriously they take education, and judge for yourself.
ArtLung Blog » Blog Archive » Are you a Respiratory Therapist? Do you blog? on 15 Jan 2006 at 5:50 pm
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ArtLung Blog : Archives : » Some Updated Things on 07 Feb 2006 at 1:47 am
[...] Rhonchi.com is getting comment spam! That was pretty fast. Luckily Spam Karma 2 protects it! There’s more lung-y news out there than I ever could have anticipated. I still have not heard from any RT’s who blog, but c’est la vie. They’ll turn up eventually. [...]